Machine for planing or smoothing surfaces of curved or irregular objects.



PATENTED MAR. 22, 1904-.

0. w. SMITH. MACHINE FOR PLANING 0R SMOOTHING' SURP GBs 0F GURVED 0R IRREGULAR OBJECTS.

APPLIOATION FILED AUG. 15, 1903.

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No. 755,321. PATENTED MAR. 22, 1904.

I 0. W. SMITH. MACHINE FOR PLANING OR SMOOTHING SURFACES 0F GURVED 0R IRREGULAR OBJECTS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 16, 1903.

No. 755,321. PATENTED MAR. 22, 1904.1 0.- W. SMITH.

MACHINE FOR PLANING OR SMOOTHING SURFACES 0F GURVBD 0R IRREGULAR OBJECTS.

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PATENTED MAR. 22, 1904.

0. W.v SMITH. MAGHINE FOR PLANING 0R SMOOTH'ING SURFACES 0P OURVED 0R IRREGULAR OBJECTS.

APPLIOATION FILED AUG. 15, 1903.

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Vl/mwzssa j I //v l/t/v TOR UNITED STATES Patented March 22, 190 1.

PATE T OFFICE.

CHARLES W. SMITH, OF TOWNSEND, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO ANSON D. FESSENDEN, OF TOWNSEND, MASSACHUSETTS.

MACHINE FOR PLANl-NG OR SMOOTHING SURFACES OE CURVED 0R IRREGULAR OBJECTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 755,321, dated March 22, 1904.

Application filed August 15, 1903.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES W. SMITH, of Townsend, county of Middlesex, and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Planing object being planed or smoothed.

A further object of my invention is to provide guides for said planing or smoothing head tolimit the depth of material removed during the process of planingor smoothing to a uniform thickness throughout the whole surface being operated upon.

In the drawings illustrating my invention and the best mode of applying the same now known to me, Figure 1 represents a front eievation of my improved device. Fig. 2 represents a rear elevation of the same. Fig. 3 represents a sectional elevation on line 3 3, Fig. 2. Fig. 4 represents a plan viewv of the cutter-head and bearings in which the same revolves and shows a section of material in the position itwould assume in beingplaned or smoothed by the cutters attached to said head. Fig. 5 represents another plan view of the cutter-head with the guides in a different position fromthat shown-in Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a sectional View of the cutter-head through line 6 (ion Fig. 4. Fig. 7isa-plan view of lever forslidingthe holding-head for holding the object being operated upon. Fig. 8 shows the feeding device for feeding the object being operated upon with relation to the cutting-head. Fig. 9 is a perspective View of the levers and connections for operating the guide N A A represent legs or standards supporting the different mechanisms for holding, feeda ing, and smoothingabarrel.

Abed B is bolt- Serial No. 169,663. (Nomodel.)

C are constructed of a flexible material in order that they may be adjusted to different curvatures. A pair of link-bars C C are pivoted to the bed B by the bolts C in such manner as to swing thereon, their inner ends being joined together by the stud C fixed in and C, as the outer ends of said links C musttravel an equal distance by reason of their being pivoted together at their inner ends.

The bed D is supported upon and guided by the tracks C and C by means of guidewheels,D D, running on the top of track C, and the guide-wheels D D D D, &c., which contact with and roll upon the sides of the said tracks C and the track C. One of the brackets D has a downwardly-extendingportion with lugs upon which are jourualed a pair of the guide-wheels D in such manner as to contaotwith and roll upon the sides of the track C. One of said brackets D is attached to the under side of the bed D under the head-stock E, the other of said brackets- D being attached to a projection of the headstock E in such manner as to slide longitudi nally therewith. The object ofattaching one of the brackets D to the head-stock E is so that the bed D'will be guided at points near the ends of the object being smoothed, it being obvious that when the head-stock E is adjusted to smooth objects of different lengths the bracket D attached to said head-stock E, will travel therewith and'always be at a given distance from the end of the object being smoothed.

Adjustably mounted to the upper side of the said bed D are the head-stocks E and E in such manner as to be readilyadjustable longitudinally on said bed D to permit objects of different lengths being placed between them. The head-stock E is provided with the bearings E E in its upward portion, in which the shaft F freely revolves. Said shaft F in this instance is I provided with a clampinghead F suitable for holding the end of a barrel and has also mounted upon it the gear F which enmeshes with the gear F, mounted upon the upper end of a feed-shaft, which shaft will be hereinafter more fully described. The head-stock E is provided with bearings E E in which is revolubly mounted the shaft G. The shaft G has attached to its inner end a clamping-head Gr, adapted to hold and clamp the end of a barrel, and is free to slide longitudinally in the bearings E E its movement being controlled by the lever G attached to the bracket secured to the headstock E. A box G is revolubly mounted on the shaft G in such manner as to be immovable longitudinally thereon. The box Gr is provided with the bracket Gr and the stud G The link-bar Gr is pivoted to the stud Gr at its outer end, its inner end being pivoted to the lever Gr midway of its length. A sector G is attached to the head-stock E and has on its upper surface ratchet-teeth G adapted to engage a ratchet-tooth on the under side of the lever G so that by moving the lever Gr 7 to the left, as viewed in Fig. 1, the shaft G mounted the shaft A is moved longitudinally inward to the desired distance and held in said position by the engagement of the ratchet-tooth on the lever G engaging with the ratchet-teeth G on the sector G. I

The machine described in this specification and illustrated in the drawings is constructed and arranged to clamp and smooth a barrel, although the mechanism herein illustrated is designed to smooth irregular objects other than barrels.

H H H H represent guides for supporting and alining a barrel placed thereon in such position that the heads F and G may readily enter the ends thereof to clamp it and revolve it in front of the planing or smoothing cutters. These guides H H H H are adjustably secured in bosses attached to the ends of springs H H H H, which springs are secured by suitable bolts to the upper surface of the bed D, as is more clearly illustrated in Fig. 3. The object of the springs H H H H is to allow the guide-rolls H H H H to be deflected downward when contacting with any irregularity on the surface of the object being planed or smoothed and as constructed constitute what might be termed a flexible support. The standards A A are provided with bearings A A, in which is revolubly Said shaft A has mounted thereon the pulleys A A and the tight and loose pulleys A A. Revolubly mounted on said shaft A is the supportingframe J, in the upper end of which are bearings J and J The shaft K is revolubly mounted in the bearings J and J and has attached to its upper end the head-supporting frame L. Bearings M M are attached to said frame L and have ashaft N revolubly mounted therein. To the shaft N is secured the cutter-head N, which cutter-head has attached thereto planing or smoothing knives N N N N Said shaft N has also secured to it the pulleys N N, which are driven by suitable belts from the pulleys A A their purpose being to rapidly revolve the cutter-head N to cause it to plane or smooth any object with which it may be brought in contact.

The cutter-head N is provided with the guides N and N both of which are adjustable. The guide N is adjustably attached to the supporting-frame L in such manner as to permit the cutters N N N N to cut to different depths, whereas the guide N while being adjustably attached to the cutter-head N, is at the same time so adjusted as to be movable longitudinally in ways in said cutter-head, so that it may be moved in or out by suitable mechanism an amount equal to the depth of the material removed from the surface of the object being smoothed. By referring to Fig. 6 the guide N is seen as being moved inward a distance equal to the depth of cut of the knives N The adjustment of the guide N is a very important feature, for by comparing the drawings Fig. 4 and Fig. 5 it will be seen that if the guide N was not moved outwardly, as shown in Fig. 4, the knives N would continue to cut deeper and deeper into the material being smoothed as the said object was being moved endwise and the guide N moved over that portion from which the material had been removed. The guide 1 5 is moved outwardly automatically as the bed D is moved longitudinally upon the tracks C and C to feed the material before the cutting-head and moves outwardly so soon as it passes by the shoulder left by the cutter in performing the first portion of its cut, as illustrated in Fig. 4.

The means for moving the guide N are shown in Fig. 6. Said guide N has a dovetail portion on its lower surface, as shown in Fig. 3, which slides in adovetailed groove cut crosswise of the portion L of the cutter-head and is limited in its crosswise movement by the stops 0 O, which are provided with adjusting-screws O O. In the under side of the guide N is a recess 0 one side of which is formed with an inclined surface shaped to receive the head of the vertical adjusting-rod O and so arranged that when said rod O 'is moved downward the inclined surface 0 contacts with the incline in the recess in the guide N, thereby moving said guide inwardly until it contacts with the adjusting-screw O. The rod 0 has a bearing in the cutter-head L, the other end being confined by the collar 0. The purpose of the spring 0 is to cause the rod takes place so soon as the barrel being p which is adjustably secured in the bracket P,

attached to the head-stock E. The rod 0 bell-crank lever 0 and portion 0 are so adjusted as to move the guide N when the pin 0 is out of contact with the spindle P. This smoothed has fed a sufficient distance to allow the guide N to drop into the groove cut by the cutters N during the first revolution of the barrel.

The bed D, which carries the head-stocks and the object being smoothed, is fed longitudinally by means of a worm-gear D se-.

curedto the shaft which revolves in the bearings D in the head-stock E, and a bracket D",

pivoted in the bracket D which is attached.

to the under side of the bed D. The bracket D is free to revolve in the bearing in the bracket D as the table D moves longitudinally. The feed for the table D is more clearly shown in Fig. 8,where the worm D is shown as enmeshing with the worm-gear Q, which latter hasa bearing on the shaft Q and revolves freely thereon. The shaft Q has mounted on its other end one of the guiderolls D. Also mounted on said shaft Q is a clutch member Q arranged to slide endwise, the teeth of which engage with a clutch member Q secured to the worm-gear Q. The

the arrangement of the parts being such that the movement of the. handle Q up or down moves the, clutch member Q in or out-of engagement with the member Q thereby throwing the feed mechanism of the table D in or out, as desired, the table D being fed forward or back by the frictional contact of the roll D on the track C. The shaft which drives the Worm-gear D is driven by means of the bevel-gears R and R, one of which is located on said shaft, the other of which is located on the telescopic shaft R, which is adapted to receive the shaft R and prevented from turning thereon by any suitable means,

such as a key sliding in the keyway. The,

shaft R has a bearing in the bracket R and has on itsouter end a bevel-gear R which enmeshes with the gear R attached to the shaft R. The shaft R has a bearing in one. end of the bracket R. Said shaft R has also mounted upon it the bevel-gear R, which enmeshes 'with' the gear R The lower end of said shaft R extends downward into the bearing R, which is attached to the hanger R. The bracket Ris guided and held in position by the shafts R and R and is free to revolve about said shaft R to preserve its alinement with the driving mechanism for driving the table D. The gear R is driven'by the shaft B through the medium of the pulley R, which is driven by; a belt from any suitable counter-shaft. I The barrel or material placed between the clamping devices is revolved upon the shaft F in the head-stock E by means of -the bevel-gears .F 'and F which 'are adapted to enmesh.

In describing my invention I have shown the table D as supported by tracks adjusted to a semicircle; but I do not wish to limit myself to a table traveling upon semicircular tracks,as my device will work equally well if moved upon straight tracks, for the cutterhead N, owing to the arrangement for mounting the same-to wit, upon the end of the shaftK which is free to revolve in the bearings J and J in the supporting-frame J will swivel thereon and follow'any irregular outline of the object being smoothed without the necessity of said object traveling on a track conforming to its shape, for through the medium of the guides N and N the cutter-head N will swing and aline itself with a line-drawn through the surface they contact with.'

' U is a spiral spring one end of which is attached to the frame of the machine, its other end being attached to the swinging frame J its object being to hold the frame J inward and the guides N and N in contact withthe object being smoothed. The frame J is moved outward against the tension of the spring U by means of the treadle T and the adjustable connection T, which is pivoted to the downward-projecting portion T of the frame J.

A hook V and the spring V to engage the same is provided to hold the treadle T down in order to hold the frame J in an outward position while the finished barrel is being re-. moved and another inserted.

The operation of myinvention as applied to a mechanism for smoothing the outside of barrels is as follows: The clamping-head G is moved endwise through the medium of the le ward until the heads F and G securely hold the barrel between them. The treadle T then being released, the spring U swings the frame J inward until the guides N and N contact with the surface of the barrel, it being understood that the cutter-head is being rapidly revolved by the belts and the barrel is being revolved through the medium of the feeding mechanism in the head-stock E. Hence while the cutters are revolving the barrel placed between the heads F and G is also revolving, so that a groove would be cut around the surface of the barrel, as illustrated in Fig. 4. The lever Q is then moved upward through the clutch Q into engagement with the wormgear Q, causing same to revolve and feed'the barrel forward in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 2,-and, as has been before explained, so soon as the rod 0 is moved out of contact with the spindleP the guide N would be moved outward a distance sufficient to compensate for the thickness of material removed by the cutters, thus causing the cutters to remove a uniform thickness from end to end of the barrel and around its periphery.

The moving of the guide N outward is a very essential feature of this invention, for were it not moved outward to compensate for the thickness of material removed by the cutters said cutters would gradually Work inward until they would cut the staves of a barrel in two. As the guide N is arranged to operate it provides for a smooth out from the first cut removed around the barrel until the cut is finished at the opposite end thereof.

Having described my invention and its operation, what I claim is- 1. In a machine for smoothing irregular objects, such as barrels, means for clamping the object; power-driven means for feeding the object rotatively and longitudinally before the cutters; a rotary cutter; means for supporting said rotary cutter in a manner to permit it to swing toward and from the object being smoothed, and to oscillate in a horizontal plane, so that its axis will be parallel to the surface being smoothed;adjustable guiding means arranged to prevent the rotary cutter from removing more than a determined thickness of material from the surface being smoothed, said guiding means being automatically adjustable to guide the rotary cutter from both the rough surface of the object and the smoothed surface thereof.

2. In a machine for smoothing the surfaces of regular and irregular objects, means for clamping the object; power-operated means for feeding the object both rotatively and longitudinally before a smoothing-cutter; asupporting-frame pivotally attached to the machine; bearings for a rotary cutter pivotally mounted in the supporting-frame; a rotary cutter; means for revolving the rotary cutter adjustable to its different positions; and guiding means for limiting the thickness of material removed by the rotary cutter from either the rough surface of the object or from the smoothed surface thereof.

3. A machine for smoothing the surface of curved or irregular objects, means for clamping, revolving and feeding the object longitudinally; a smoothing-head revolubly mounted in oscillating bearings; smoothing means secured in said smoothing-head; means to move said smoothing-head toward and from the work to be smoothed; adjustable guiding means to cause the smoothing-head to follow the outline of the surface to be smoothed; and means for revolving the smoothing-head.

4. In a mechanism for smoothing the surfaces of irregular objects, means for clamping, revolving and feeding the object; a cutterhead; smoothing-cutters mounted thereon; an oscillating frame in which said cutter-head is revolubly mounted; a swinging frame in which said oscillating frame is revolubly mounted; means for moving said swinging frame from and toward the object to be smoothed; guiding means adjustably secured to the oscillating frame; means for moving one of said guides on said oscillating frame to gage the depth of cut of the cutters; and means for revolving said cutting-head.

5. In a device for smoothing the surfaces of irregular objects, a revolving cutter-head having cutters mounted thereon; said cutters; a frame in which said cutter-head is revolubly mounted, said frame being so constructed and arranged as to permit the cutter-head to swing toward and from the object being smoothed and to allow it to swing in a horizontal plane so that its axis may be turned at different angles to the axis of the object being smoothed; and automatically-adjustable guiding means adapted to gage the depth of cut from both the rough and the smoothed surfaces of theobject to be smoothed.

6. In a machine for smoothing curved and irregular objects, means for holding and revolving the object; means for feeding the object in both a straight and curved line; means for smoothing the straight and irregular surfaces of the object; and guides for regulating the depth of cut of the smoothing means from both the rough and smooth surfaces.

7. In a machine for smoothing the surfaces of curved objects, means for clamping, revolving and feed in g said objects; revolving cutters pivoted to the frame of said clamping and feeding mechanism; means for keeping the said revolving cutters in alinement and in cutting contact with the surfaces being smoothed; and means for gaging the depth of cut from both the rough and smooth surfaces.

8. In a machine for smoothing the surface of curved objects, clamping, revolving and feeding mechanism comprising a frame having tracks adjustable to either a straight or curved line; a bed supported upon and arranged to move in the direction of said tracks; a stationary head stock and an adjustable head-stock mounted on said bed; spindles revolubly mounted in said head-stocks; clamping means mounted on said spindles; means for revolving said spindles and self-adjusting feed mechanism for feeding said bed longitudinally.

9. In a machine for finishing the surfaces of barrels and other curved and irregular objects, means for clamping, revolving and feeding said objects longitudinally; a revolving cutter arranged so that its axis will swing to a position parallel to the surface being finished; means for holding said revolving cutter in cutting contact with the object being smoothed; adjustable guiding means for gaging the depth of material removed by the cutters from the rough surfaces when the object is being revolved but not fed longitudinally; and means for adjusting said gages so they will gage the depth of cut when the object is being revolved and fed longitudinally.

10. A machine for finishing the surfaces of curved objects, comprising means for clamping, revolving and feeding an object longitudinally in a line approximating the curvature of the object; revolving cutters and guides so constructed and arranged that the cutting edge of said cutters will be parallel to the surfaces to be smoothed; means for revolving said cutter-head; and means for automatically adj usting one of said guides to gage the depth of cut from both the rough and the smooth surfaces.

11. A finishing-cutter, comprising a revolving cutter-head and means for revolving same; cutters mounted on said cutter-.head; guides mounted adjacent the ends of said cutterheads; means for automatically adjusting. one of said guides; and means for causing said cutters to move into cutting contact with the object to be finished.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this the 30th day of July, 1903.

CHARLES W. SMITH.

Witnesses:'

RICHARD P. ELLIOTT, H. M. KELSO. 

